Ausnet deny trespassing

By Lachlan Ellis

The manager of a property has said Ausnet did not have permission to enter, yet Ausnet say they were not trespassing.  – who’s telling fibs?

Over a dozen members of the Moorabool and Central Highlands Power Alliance (MCHPA) gathered outside the Stone Hut Lane Ballan property, and told AusNet representatives who had arrived there that if they crossed the fence, they would be trespassing.

Videos posted on the MCHPA Facebook page later in the day show the group of AusNet staff on the property, then leaving the property, escorted by police.

The Moorabool News asked AusNet for their side of the story, and AusNet denied any trespassing took place.

“AusNet Services project representatives attended a property in Ballan on Wednesday 20 April to conduct cultural heritage and ecology surveys. The landholder in this case was aware of the planned visit. There was no trespass involved. We undertook other surveys, without incident, at the same property last year,” an AusNet Services spokesperson said.

“Survey work had commenced when residents from nearby properties arrived at the address. The safety of our staff is our priority, and the decision was made by the project team to contact the local police.”

The spokesperson also said their representatives decided to leave the property and return at a later date, following discussions with the local police.

However, that account contradicts those of the property’s manager, who maintains the property for landowner Forte Land, and said AusNet’s land access had been anything but “without incident”.

“The first time they came there was before Christmas, and I flatly refused them entry. They defied me and cut the chain and went in. But what could I do, I don’t own the property. I didn’t try to physically remove them or anything like that, I just rang up the owners and told them what happened,” the property manager, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Moorabool News.

“After that, I heard nothing until this recent episode. They rang the [Forte Land] secretary in Melbourne on I think the Tuesday [19 April], she flatly refused them entry, and said they were not to go on the property. They (Ausnet) rang me the following morning, and I said ‘no, my instructions are you are not to enter the property’.

“I went up on the Wednesday and there was quite a gathering. I asked who was in charge, and one bloke said he was, and I said I was there on behalf of the owners of the property. There was 11 of them in the paddock. I said, ‘you have to get out’. They said they wouldn’t, and I told them the owners have contacted the police and their lawyers.”

The AusNet representatives were then told by police to “fill in the hole they were digging” before being escorted out, the property manager said.

“They refused to move until the police arrived. The police did their job, and I thought they did it very well. They asked them to pack up and get out,” he said.

Whether Forte Land intends to respond to AusNet’s land access with legal action is unknown, but AusNet has regularly claimed the right to access properties under Section 93 of the Electricity Industry Act 2000.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-05-03/11

in the 3 May 2022 edition
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pick up a paper around your town.